Gypsy Creams

An unusual TA recruitment tactic

Men Only / July 1950

Ah, nothing like a bit of emotional blackmail to help a government hedge its bets in a brave new post-WW2 world.

The Territorial Army is the official reserve armed force for the UK, although the situation in 1951 was complicated by the fact that conscription into National Service for 17-21 year olds wasn’t to end until the early 1960s. However, the advert here is aimed at men who served in WW2 and had been sent home after the war to either continue to support their families, or to start one. Given that some conscripts weren’t sent home until 1949, it seems rather unfair to immediately haul them back, just because Britain wasn’t getting its own way in the post-WW2 world.

But then, for men brought up on the idea of British Empire, the early 1950s would indeed have been frightening; the various conflicts related to the Cold War, such as the Korean War lasting from 1950-1953, the Malayan Emergency lasting throughout the 1950s, and the chaos of Indian independence in 1947 would have all contributed to a feeling of the world order as most Britons knew it falling apart. No wonder some feared that they’d have to go through it all again.

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2 Comments

Marleen on 30 January 2014 @ 12pm

Love the “dodgy advice” tag. :D


Tanya Jones on 30 January 2014 @ 12pm

I’ve used that one a LOT on this site!


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